"Accurising" a factory Remington .223

leupold90

Hi all,

I want to improve the performance of my Rem 700 VSSF.

I have already replaced the factory trigger with a Timney which helped alot.

Can anybody recommend anything else (short of new barrel and all the other bells and whistles..) that would improve performance without breaking the bank?

dCorbus

- Recrown the barrel
- Blueprint the action
- Make sure the barrel's totally freefloated.

Couple of straightforward options there for you.:)

pat58

I would also include pillar and glass bedding .
But the best results would prob come from a recrown

tomcat220t

As above ,all that will help with your .223 !All you need now is to give it to a good gunsmith .The one ive used with great results and plenty of site members is John Greene in Waterford (086-3554425).

Tackleberrywho

If you live on west coast or midlands see below
I have a VSSF II .223

Fergal White in Athlone Re-crowned Re-bedded and timney triggered my rifle
with great results for small expenditure
Fergal White
0906473803
0863260735

www.irelandcustomrifle.com

Tackleberrywho

Thats the group after recrown @100 from Bipiod

Tackleberrywho

This is group after rebed and recrown and Timney & Karsten cheek piece. the cheek piece came from the states.
all the work for relatively small money in comparison to buying a target rifle IMHO

doyle61

john greene did my .308 rem700. he re crowned it like the lads are saying and it shoots great. how about a new stock aswell?

Tackleberrywho

doyle61 wrote: »

john greene did my .308 rem700. he re crowned it like the lads are saying and it shoots great. how about a new stock aswell?

Fergal White is also an agent for mcmillian stocks and a few other lesser known brands:D

pat58

Hearing great things about john greene;)

Tackleberrywho

pat58 wrote: »

Hearing great things about john greene;)

1 Ireland 1000 yard record to date in 2010, more to follow.

I have seen amazing creations done in his workshop, he is gifted at his job.
I also have posted several pictures of his stuff, a sub 1/2" group @300metres with a fellow boards members Remington VSSF rebarreled with a Trueflite barrel and glass bedded, The remington VSSF comes factory Pillar bedded.

Tackleberrywho

Tackleberrywho wrote: »

Seeing better things from Fergal White:D
1 Ireland 1000 yard record to date in 2010, more to follow.

I have seen amazing creations done in his workshop, he is gifted at his job.
I also have posted several pictures of his stuff, a sub 1/2" group @300metres with a fellow boards members Remington VSSF rebarreled with a Trueflite barrel and glass bedded, The remington VSSF comes factory Pillar bedded.

See Boards member Customrifle remington .22/250 with a shiney new barrel
You should see it shoot, as the Americans say AWESOME

tomcat220t

Tackleberrywho wrote: »

Seeing better things from Fergal White:D
1 Ireland 1000 yard record to date in 2010, more to follow.

I have seen amazing creations done in his workshop, he is gifted at his job.
I also have posted several pictures of his stuff, a sub 1/2" group @300metres with a fellow boards members Remington VSSF rebarreled with a Trueflite barrel and glass bedded, The remington VSSF comes factory Pillar bedded.

How about the .204 i got built by MR Greene .Half the weight of the .22-250 shooting 1" groups at 450yards .And thats 39gr factory ammo .

Tackleberrywho

tomcat220t wrote: »

How about the .204 i got built by MR Greene .Half the weight of the .22-250 shooting 1" groups at 450yards .And thats 39gr factory ammo .

Ah well you may be a better shot than Mr customrifle lol

As I said Fergals Rifle had a record broken in MNSCI a few weeks back with a great group @ 1000 yards, and it was as windy as FCUK that day as I was there and shot on the 100 and 200!

That Officially is Ireland's record 1000 yard record as it was in a competition with independent adjudicators, it was almost a world record @ 800

All I can say Fergal's work is top class, you have great praise for Mr Green, at least the OP knows of 2 custom rifle builders and he can make his own mind up.

Fergal has a very short waiting list as when he gets a job he does not stop until it is finished, he often works through the night.

I don't know what the other guys turn around is on a rifle

tomcat220t

Tackleberrywho wrote: »

Ah well you may be a better shot than Mr customrifle lol

As I said Fergals Rifle had a record broken in MNSCI a few weeks back sub 4 1/2 " group @ 1000 yards, and it was as windy as FCUK that day as I was there and shot on the 100 and 200!

That Officially is Ireland's record 1000 yard record as it was in a competition with independent adjudicators, it was almost a world record @ 800

All I can say Fergal's work is top class, you have great praise for Mr Green, at least the OP knows of 2 custom rifle builders and he can make his own mind up.

Fergal has a very short waiting list as when he gets a job he does not stop until it is finished, he often works through the night.

I don't know what the other guys turn around is on a rifle

That a small group at 1000 yards but we are not really shooting wildcat calibres out of a 20LB odd bench rigs !You , i and most people who get custom rifles built are looking for field guns with standard factory ammo which neither of the 2 above rifles are!Setting records is great for PR but not what id be looking out of any custom rifle builder ,sorry .

Tackleberrywho

tomcat220t wrote: »

That a small group at 1000 yards but we are not really shooting wildcat calibres out of a 20LB odd bench rigs !You , i and most people who get custom rifles built are looking for field guns with standard factory ammo which neither of the 2 above rifles are!Setting records is great for PR but not what id be looking out of any custom rifle builder ,sorry .

I'd be looking for quality at the right price! Delivered on time.
Anything I had done had under a week turnaround.

I have asked a world class shooter to test mine on a range, and he said he will, My rifle has had under €300 done to it and the groups are 1/4ered and I am no world class shooter, just an average Joe with a semi-customed average rifle:D

SD308

Tackleberrywho wrote: »

As I said Fergals Rifle had a record broken in MNSCI a few weeks back sub 4 1/2 " group @ 1000 yards, and it was as windy as FCUK that day as I was there and shot on the 100 and 200!

That Officially is Ireland's record 1000 yard record as it was in a competition with independent adjudicators

The group that won the 1000yrd benchrest shoot that day was 6 3/8" in size as per the NRAI 2010 Nationals Results.

Stephen.

tomcat220t

Tackleberrywho wrote: »

I'd be looking for quality at the right price! Delivered on time.
Anything I had done had under a week turnaround.

I have asked a world class shooter to test mine on a range, and he said he will, My rifle has had under €300 done to it and the groups are 1/4ered and I am no world class shooter, just an average Joe with a semi-customed average rifle:D

Im not trying to get into you about Fergul White but hes not the only man building top class rifles here in ireland.As for a one week turn around ,that only hi lights the fact that hes is not so busy ,yet!

Tackleberrywho

tomcat220t wrote: »

Im not trying to get into you about Fergul White but hes not the only man building top class rifles here in ireland.As for a one week turn around ,that only hi lights the fact that hes is not so busy ,yet!

I have mentioned John green in several of my posts, When I wanted to get a job done local everybody said John green, but i had no time to go to KK, then Ezridax mentioned the latter and i have not looked back, I never said the other guy has not made fine rifles, Dwighets rifle is very nice and that is the only one I have seen to date.

I'm not here to talk about business, I'm here to discuss the sport I love.
When I came on here the only threads were on the other John green, and as kilkenny was 60 miles out of my way or more I shopped local, one of the posters asking the question was in Offaly, If you were in wexford you would not drive to Galway for something you could get in the next county ?

I always insisted that people shop in ireland, it is a recession after all, there was a guy wanting to send a rifle to the UK, when either John or figgy could have done it.

My point was unless one is in the know one could end up with a rifle in england getting work done.
We give enough to England Buy Irish i say, I always give Duffy in galway a mention and i would not know the man if I met him in the flesh.
But he has a good website for newbies to see prices and give them a guide to go buy when buying second hand.

When i was younger and we had no broadband living in the sticks I payed through the nose for stuff that could have been bought for a song else where.

All i try and do is let others learn from my mistakes, as I hate to see young guys get codded into buying the wrong thing.

Tackleberrywho

SD308 wrote: »

The group that won the 1000yrd benchrest shoot that day was 6 3/8" in size as per the NRAI 2010 Nationals Results.

Stephen.

I do apologise for inaccurate figures.
My bad:o

dCorbus

Lads, I do believe we're moving well away from the information requested by the O/P, which was in relation to:

Can anybody recommend anything else (short of new barrel and all the other bells and whistles..) that would improve performance without breaking the bank?

The O/P now has the names of two highly recommended and referenced gunsmiths, a Mr. J. Greene and a Mr. F. White. Both of whom come with glowing reference from here and elsewhere. So I'd suggest that the O/P pops along to meet both these gentlemen, discusses his project, confirms a price and timescale, and then makes his decision on that basis.

Despite some of the earlier posts, it's not an "either or" situation. And this apparent "tit-for-tat" between the Fergal W. Supporters Club versus the John G. Fans is becoming unbecoming :rolleyes:, does no favours for either professional gunsmith, and I would very much doubt that it is something either John (who I don't know) and Fergal (who I do) would approve of being done, even with the best-will, on either of their behalfs.

Having met Fergal White and having a lot of respect for him and his work, I think I could be pretty sure that he may not be too happy to have his work (albeit with the best of intentions) always being talked about so often, by particular posters in particular (:D;)). He seems to me to be a much more private lad than that and would probably much rather have his work "speak for itself".

People can be put off by a somewhat over-enthusiastic, albeit very well intentioned, "over-egging of the pudding". Yes, Fergal's work is very good and I'd have no hesitation in recommending him, but not at the expense of doing-down another gunsmith nor through an over-enthusiastic and somewhat constant "testimonialisation" of his work.

I'm all for recommending lads who do a good job - but perhaps the message might be better recieved, if it was more subtle and perhaps less forceful in its expression. Just a thought.;)

Two other points:

1.
If "records" are to be quoted in support of anyone, then the facts should be confirmed first. Thank SD308 for clarifying the 1000yd result. Tack, please be more sure of your facts, when referencing so-called national records in support of Fergal - Misleading information does the man no favours IMHO.

2.
Posting photos of other peoples rifles is not something that, IMHO, should be done (if you do not have their expressed permission to do so) - I'd hate to think that, if and when I hand my TRG over to Fergal for some upgrading and TLC, tack will be taking pics of her and posting them on here for all to see, without my knowledge or permission.

I am surprised that Fergal allowed the photos to be taken within his workshop, as I know he is respectful of his clients property and is rightly very careful about security, and I suspect neither his permission or the permission of the rifle owners was sought or obtained.

If I'm wrong and such permission was obtained to photograph in the workshop, I'll stand corrected and apologise in advance - Maybe tack could clarify this?

This is not a personal dig at tack or anyone else, but just my humble opinion. And hope no one will take offence by my post and we can all get nicely back on topic.

Tackleberrywho

dCorbus wrote: »

Lads, I do believe we're moving well away from the information requested by the O/P, which was in relation to:
Correct


The O/P now has the names of two highly recommended and referenced gunsmiths, a Mr. J. Greene and a Mr. F. White. Both of whom come with glowing reference from here and elsewhere. So I'd suggest that the O/P pops along to meet both these gentlemen, discusses his project, confirms a price and timescale, and then makes his decision on that basis. I should have said that...

Despite some of the earlier posts, it's not an "either or" situation. And this apparent "tit-for-tat" between the Fergal W. Supporters Club versus the John G. Fans is becoming unbecoming :rolleyes:, does not favours for either professional gunsmith, and I would very much doubt that it is something either John (who I don't know) and Fergal (who I do) would approve of being done, even with the best-will, on either of their behalfs.
No I don't think Either would like a who's better craic going on, they both are good

Having met Fergal White and having a lot of respect for him and his work, I think I could be pretty sure that he may not be too happy to have his work (albeit with the best of intentions) always being talked about so often, by particular posters in particular (:D;)). He seems to me to be a much more private lad than that and would probably much rather have his work "speak for itself". That is true, it does.

People can be put off by a somewhat over-enthusiastic, albeit very well intentioned, "over-egging of the pudding". Yes, Fergal's work is very good and I'd have no hesitation in recommending him, but not at the expense of doing-down another gunsmith nor through an over-enthusiastic and somewhat constant "testimonialisation" of his work. Nobody will buy hornady, nightforce, either as I constantly talk about them too. But if you had to learn to shoot with some of the crap scopes i had, you would sing NF's praises, same if the only 6.5 ammo you could afford was S&B

I'm all for recommending lads who do a good job - but perhaps the message might be better recieved, if it was more subtle and perhaps less forceful in its expression. Just a thought.;)

Two other points:

1.
If "records" are to be quoted in support of anyone, then the facts should be confirmed first. Thank SD308 for clarifying the 1000yd result. Tack, please be more sure of your facts, when referencing so-called national records in support of Fergal - Misleading information does the man no favours IMHO.
I have already apologised for this in previous post. I can only apologise for that, Stephen told me that before, I don't know why i did not remember, too much numbers in my head at the moment for other reasons

2.
Posting photos of other peoples rifles is not something that, IMHO, should be done (if you do not have their expressed permission to do so) - I'd hate to think that, if and when I hand my TRG over to Fergal (fergal did not know I took the pics)for some upgrading and TLC, tack will be taking pics of her and posting them on here for all to see, without my knowledge or permission. Never would I post a pic of anybodies rifles if I thought they did not want them posted

I am surprised that Fergal allowed the photos to be taken within his workshop(he did not know they were taken, I took them with phone cam), as I know he is respectful of his clients property and is rightly very careful about security, and I suspect neither his permission or the permission of the rifle owners was sought or obtained.I was taking several pics of my own property that night, When I say the rifle I knew a good friend of mine owned I said This is something else, I thought it would break records and I would have a pic of it before it happened. The owner passes no regards to boards but he laughed when some thought they knew what it was.

If I'm wrong and such permission was obtained to photograph in the workshop, I'll stand corrected and apologise in advance - Maybe tack could clarify this?

This is not a personal dig at tack or anyone else, but just my humble opinion.

I understand completely dC,
I seem to be the only member of the fanclub. I'm a bit of an entrepreneur myself and love to see new fresh things coming out of this country in these tough times. Equally I would love to see Irish shooters on the Top of a world stage.

I should not always post about Fergal, I have mentioned John green and he did a fine job of Dwighets rifle
I just see it as unfair as fergal never seemed to get a mention when he does good work. Even though he is flat out doing it. I have spent thousands on rifles down the years as AFAIKnew at the time riflecraft was the only place to get work done, after the hassle I had importing a 6.5 Swedish Mauser from UK I had said no way UK.

Both Pics of rifles posted were 1 of a good friend of mine, the second was left in for me to take a look at, I took a pic of it for my reference in selecting barrels. I did not say "Can i post a pic of your rifle that you left in for me to look at", but the fact it was left in for me to look at; I thought maybe incorrectly implied consent as no caveats were given.

The reason I posted that pic was it is almost the same rifle as OP has asked about with a custom job, I wanted to base my opinion with fact as I have made mistakes before ref the grouping, so a pic i thought was the best way to show op what it could look like.

I will refrain from anymore posts for a while on custom work.
I will stay with Hunting as that was my normal posting place, custom work is new and exciting for me, and yes I did get carried away and maybe go overboard.
I reply to often to threads that i feel in hind sight i should have bit my lip and said nothing, i just can't bear to see people constantly go outside ireland for engineering work when we have some of the best skilled workers in the world.

Now before this turns into an autobiography I'll finish on that.

vixdname

leupold90 wrote: »

Hi all,

I want to improve the performance of my Rem 700 VSSF.

I have already replaced the factory trigger with a Timney which helped alot.

Can anybody recommend anything else (short of new barrel and all the other bells and whistles..) that would improve performance without breaking the bank?

You could as one of the previous posters recommended..get a new stock.
I have a remy 700 in .223 and upgraded my stock to an Accuracy International stock (A.I.C.S).
Check out this web site for details:
http://www.sportingservices.co.uk/aics.asp

It really give the rem700 an accuracy boost.

leupold90

Thanks lads for all the advice.

As per Tack's suggestion I've been in contact with F White (closest guy to me) and he has suggested a recrown as a first step and he will advise further when he sees the rifle.

Once again, thanks for the help.

pat58

Tackleberrywho wrote: »

1 Ireland 1000 yard record to date in 2010, more to follow.

I have seen amazing creations done in his workshop, he is gifted at his job.
I also have posted several pictures of his stuff, a sub 1/2" group @300metres with a fellow boards members Remington VSSF rebarreled with a Trueflite barrel and glass bedded, The remington VSSF comes factory Pillar bedded.

First thing great to hear leupold90 has got sorted , Which i believe was the main object of this thread, (not point scoring) Tack the reason i neven mentioned Fergil , I have no experience of his work , On the other hand i have seen and used rifles john has worked on, At the end of the day i am sure the op will be delighted with fergils work, So please tac the next time i dont recommend fergial understand why and dont go off on one;)

tomcat220t

Tackleberrywho wrote: »

1 Ireland 1000 yard record to date in 2010, more to follow.

I have seen amazing creations done in his workshop, he is gifted at his job.
I also have posted several pictures of his stuff, a sub 1/2" group @300metres with a fellow boards members Remington VSSF rebarreled with a Trueflite barrel and glass bedded, The remington VSSF comes factory Pillar bedded.

This is where your self promotion of another gunsmith goes to pot ,bud.You havent had a custom rifle built from this man ,yet:oThe irish record group size you quoted was not accurate:o.The above rifle details are not accurate ,either .There is times where i read your posts that i began to think it was Fergal White himself,sorry .I mean this in the best way possible but if Fergal can harrow what other gunsmiths in ireland have ploughed id be really impressed;).

tomcat220t

leupold90 wrote: »

Thanks lads for all the advice.

As per Tack's suggestion I've been in contact with F White (closest guy to me) and he has suggested a recrown as a first step and he will advise further when he sees the rifle.

Once again, thanks for the help.

Best of luck ,im sure you will be very happy with his work!

doyle61

best of luck OP with the rifle. looks like a bit of a project is about to start for you.....enjoy:D
Tack is obviously a Fergal White fan and fair play to him. i havnt been to his shop yet but because of whats been written about him im defenetally going to head for a visit sometime. personally im a fan of John Greenes work. first time i saw his work was about 7 years ago and always said ild have one of his rifles someday........got it built last year and love it to bits:D. thing is Tack brought up a very valid point, BUY IRISH!!!! we have some very talanted people in this country who are priced at a reasonable rates and as far as im concerned im going to support them rather than getting work done in other countries.

dwighet

Its like a drug...You start of with a little 11 degree target crown..Youll get a little bit of a buzz out of that but youll want more...so then you get your new trigger...Things are feeling good now but you need more....
A new stock....mmmmm thats better,But more you need more...
Shinny new match grade barrel chambered with a tactical/match grade reamer.....
And when your happy with all that you will want another one..But bigger and better than your last one.....

It is so addictive;)
I have 2 custom rifles(7mm08 and a 300 win mag) and my r-15 is getting a few tweaks by greene at the moment and there are plans for another early next year.....

I can still hear Greene from when I first picked up my old cz 527varmint after being accurized..He said "You`ll be back for more"